Romania had the largest increase of new passenger car registrations in the European Union in January 2012, up 86.4 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Over 4,900 cars were registered in Romania in January 2012, compared to some 2,600 units posted in the same month of 2011.

Overall in the EU, the demand for new cars dropped by 7.1 percent, to a total of over 968,000 cars registered in the first month of this year, according to ACEA. The biggest drop was reported in Portugal - minus 47.7, France - minus 20.7 percent, and Italy - minus 16.9 percent. See the entire ACEA report here.

New registrations of cars in Romania went down by 42.2 percent in 2011 compared to the same period in the previous year, while new registrations of goods vehicles increased by 54.6 percent, according to the Romanian National Statistics Institute (INS).

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)